CO129-324 - Governor Nathan - 1904 [10-12] — Page 138

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the case of Military Reserves no longer required for Military

purposes and this means that the Colony if it wants again to

make full use of these lands must purchase from the War De-

partment the building rights which I hold have only been held

in abeyance to meet the exigencies of defence and have not

been alienated to that Department.

6.

I have not overlooked the fact that Mr.

Chamberlain in his Despatch No. 306 dated the 18th. September,

0 1901, considered that when the War Office agrees to surrender

the rights which it possesses of controlling the erection of

buildings on any lands................... that Department has a reason-

able claim under the Circular of 30th. December, 1894, to be

credited with the difference in value between the lands,

when subject to the rights in question and the value when

freed from those rights' ".

7.

If you adhere to this view and consider

that the rights to control the erection of buildings on any

lands surrendered to the War Department by the Colony for a

specific purpose extinguish the rights of the Colony to build-

ing values when this purpose has ceased to exist and in any

event transfer them to the War Department then no doubt the

amount to be credited to the Colony in this and similar cases

of the War Department itself making use of the Reserves is

the comparatively small value of the land for other than build-

ing purposes, while the amount to be debited to the Colony in

case of Military Reserves no longer required as such being

fully resumed will be the great difference between the build-

ing and agricultural values. I am doubtful, however, whether

you will hold this view which is not even in the Military

interests